Cuomo Fundraising For Smythe

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday will attend a fundraiser in Rhinebeck for Democratic state Senate hopeful Karen Smythe, according to an invitation obtained by Capital Tonight.

Tickets to the event range from $500 to $11,000.

Smythe is running against incumbent Republican Sue Serino the Poughkeepsie-area district. Serino first won the seat in 2014, unseating Democrat Terry Gipson.

Cuomo has been actively working this year to help Democrats win key state Senate races in the narrowly divided chamber. He’s been accused by his liberal critics in the past of not doing enough to help his own party gain a majority in the Senate.

But in the last year, Cuomo has worked to broker a truce between factions in the Senate that led to the dissolution of the Independent Democratic Conference.

Meanwhile, his campaign has maxed out to several Democratic candidates running in battleground races on Long Island.

Flipping the Senate has long been an issue for liberal activists in New York. Cuomo this year faces a Democratic primary challenge from actress and advocate Cynthia Nixon.